All that was discussed in the House through the day
The government is planning to change the base year for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations on constant prices to 2020-21, stated the Union statistics ministry in Lok Sabha on March 11, 2020.
The ministry said the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) has proposed to consider 2020-21 as the next base year of national accounts. This was in view of the structural reforms in the economy and the likely availability of data through annual surveys such as consumer expenditure, annual surveys on inincorporated sector enterprises and service sector enterprise, etc.
National Broadband Mission
The National Broadband Mission (NBM) was launched on December 17, 2019 with a vision to fast track growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge the digital divide for digital empowerment and inclusion as well as provide affordable and universal access of broadband for all.
According to Sanjay Dhotre, the Minister of State For Communications, a key objective of the mission is to facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services for growth and development throughout the country.
Coal supply to power plants
A committee comprising secretary (coal), secretary (power) and member (traffic), railway board reviewed the coal transportation and supply to power plants, according to Pralhad Joshi, coal, mines and parliamentary affairs minister in the Lok Sabha.
According to him, the coal stock at thermal power plants has increased to 38.19 tonnes as on March 5, 2020 from 30.94 tonnes on March 31, 2019.
Green energy generation
Indian Railways has envisaged to utilise about 10 per cent of its energy requirement from green energy sources like solar and wind power, said Piyush Goyal, Union railways minister. He said the railways planned to source about 1,000 mega watt (MW) solar power as part of its solar mission.
Unspent MPLAD funds
A sum of Rs 29,094.08 crore of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds from 2015 to 2020 remained unspent in the country, according to the data presented by minister of statistics and programme implementation in the Lok Sabha.
He said given the nature and dynamics of the scheme, unspent balances are bound to exist, as the funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable and the funds received by a district in a particular year can be utilised in the subsequent financial year.
Illegal mining
According to the mines ministry, cases of illegal mining showed an upward trend in 2017-18 from 2016-17. However, the number of cases have decreased from 116,198 in 2017-18 to 115,492 in 2018-19, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha by Joshi.
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